Michael Cosmopoulos

Archaeologist, Historian

PUBLISHED April 30, 2018

Historian and archaeologist Michael B. Cosmopoulos is the Endowed Professor of Archaeology and Greek Studies at the University of Missouri-St. Louis. He was featured prominently in National Geographic's landmark documentary series The Greeks, which debuted on PBS in 2016. Michael’s research focuses on the social, political, and cultural history of ancient Greece, about which he has published numerous books and scholarly articles. He has excavated at several ancient sites in Greece and Ukraine, including Mycenae, Pylos, Epidaurus, Ancient Corinth, Ithaca, Oropos, and Olbia. He has also been the director of the excavations at the sanctuary of Demeter at Eleusis, and he is currently directing the Iklaina Archaeological Project. Michael’s teaching extends beyond the classroom and into the field, where he has trained more than 1,000 students in archaeological theory and methodology and in Greek archaeology and history. He is an elected fellow of the Academy of Science of St. Louis and has received the Archaeological Institute of America's Excellence in Undergraduate Teaching Award.